Your daily life is REALLY INTERESTING. You may not be able to see it because you live it everyday, but trust me when I tell you, your customers are dying to see what you're up to. Still don't believe me? Remember, when you were a kid and would eavesdrop when your older sister/brother/mom got a phone call? The conversation itself probably wasn't that interesting, but because it was YOUR sister/brother/mom, it quickly became relevant, need-to-know info. You were interested BECAUSE it was someone relevant to YOU. This same principle applies to your small business. The bottom line is if your potential customer is following you on social media, you're relevant to them. They're interested in your business and they're intrigued by you.
They want to be a "fly on the wall" in your life.
After all, you're doing something they're not- running YOUR business. No one has that unique view but you. The fastest way to connect with your potential customer (and keep their attention) is to be relatable, vulnerable, and imperfect. I know this is completely counterintuitive to the perfectly curated scenes on social, but implementing what I call "The Fly on the Wall" method is THE fastest way to connect to your potential customers. Nothing is more attractive than being your true self. Your customers love REAL, so don't change a thing about your daily life, because daily life is inevitably relatable, vulnerable, and imperfect. Just document it.
Here's how to get into the mindset of a "Fly on the Wall."
1. Write down EVERY aspect of your day-even the parts that you think are boring. This will help you get a better idea of where you want to "pull content" from so to speak. I'm talking everything- from your go to breakfast meal, to dropping your kids off at school, to morning meetings with your team, to coffee breaks, to mailing out packages, to going to the gym, visiting your mom, your nightly Netflix binge, a date night, anything and everything you can think of that you do in a day.
2. Separate that list into two columns- business and personal. Put each aspect of your day into the appropriate category. This will visually help you to see the balance between your work and personal life. Cross off any items that you are 100% certain you DON'T want potential customers to see (i.e. some people are not comfortable showing their kids on social media). Your boundaries are your boundaries. It's important to ask yourself where you draw the line when it comes to the "The Fly on the Wall" method. It's up to you which parts of your personal life you want to show (if any). You can still be relatable without showing any personal aspects of your life, BUT I will say giving a peek into your personal life (in areas you feel comfortable showing) makes potential customers relate to you on a "friend" level and establishes trust quicker.
3. Now comes the fun part! Start with documenting one item from your business list and one item from your personal list in your Instagram and/or Facebook stories per day (These can become posts/reels if crafted correctly- more on that later 😉). No need to overthink it, just remember- you're documenting from the perspective of your follower being a fly on the wall. Quick Examples: Take a snapshot of YOU in your office eating your breakfast (YOUR face wins friends, followers, and forever customers-trust me). Headed to a meeting with a potential customer? Take a quick video in your car letting your audience know where you're going.
It's THAT easy. And yes, it's going to feel weird and uncomfortable at first, but your engagement WILL go up if you make this a consistent habit.
The Takeaway: People remember people, not products or services. They remember how people make them FEEL. If you're showing your day to day balance between personal and work life, you are inevitably being vulnerable and imperfect. You are creating a REAL story and REAL connection, and that my friends is what customers invest in.
We are living in an extremely overstimulated, overconsuming, oversaturated world. There is minimal lasting connection and we have a million choices when it comes to purchasing the service or product that YOU are selling. If your potential customer has all these choices that both you AND your competitors offer, what else could they possibly want?
There is ONE thing your potential customer wants that they aren't getting from your competition and only YOU have the ability to create it.
Your potential customer is CRAVING THE NOSTALGIA of:
CONNECTION
AUTHENTICITY
VULNERABILITY
IMPERFECTION
RELATABILITY
In a world meticulously curated for perfection, the virtues of connection, authenticity, vulnerability, imperfection, and relatability are have become fleeting. Your customers are craving to have them back. They want something to feel like home again. Something to feel real. Someone that’s not perfect and isn’t afraid to show it. Someone they can relate to. Someone they can instantly connect to. Because with nostalgia comes comfort, and with comfort comes trust, and with trust comes long term LOYAL customers. Give them this nostalgia through your UNIQUE story.
Because the social media world has created such an unattainable and perfect aesthetic, a lot of small business owners are AFRAID to put themselves out there. If that's you, just know this is a completely normal reaction! Most won’t get in front of a camera, let alone show their vulnerabilities for fear of being judged- but that’s just what YOUR customer wants to see, and that's what gives YOU a competitive advantage. Your customer wants to know there’s a REAL person running your small business. If someone can see your face, they will instantly feel closer to you (this is backed by SCIENCE).
So, how do you do this?
WAYS TO CREATE NOSTALGIA OF:
1. CONNECTION: Introduce the faces behind your small business. Whether you're a single mom, young entrepreneur, husband and wife team- whatever the case. Share to potential customers how your small business came to be. Did you start your business for a personal reason? Share that reason! People want to understand and connect with your motivations.
2. AUTHENTICITY: Use social media to share REAL moments with these people – celebrations, struggles, and everyday happenings. If you take one thing away from this post, it's that authentic content resonates far more than polished perfection.
3. VULNERABILITY: Open up about the challenges you've faced while growing your business. Discuss moments of doubt, setbacks, and how you overcame them. This HUMANIZES your business. Challenges and mistakes are actually one of your best tools in creating connection because it builds trust.
4. IMPERFECTION: You can absolutely showcase imperfection in ways that resonate with your customers while maintaining professionalism. Share both positive AND negative reviews. How you handle responding to a negative review says everything to potential customers about your values as a business.
5. RELATABILITY: All of the above will make your small business more relatable. However, the BEST way to be relatable to potential customers is to engage with them. Respond to comments and messages on social media. Show them that you appreciate them taking the time to comment. You can also get them involved in your business. Your customers want to feel like they had a hand in your success. Polls, quizzes, and challenges encourage engagement and participation, making customers feel like an active part of your brand.
The Takeaway: Honing your ability to be a great story teller takes practice, but even more importantly, CONSISTENCY. Remember, no matter what your competition is doing- no one has YOUR story. Connection and trust is built over time. This strategy is an investment into creating long term LOYAL customers!
“The secret of success is to do the common things uncommonly well” -John D. Rockefeller
I read the above somewhere recently and it’s stuck with me ever since. The secret to success isn’t some magic algorithm. It’s learning to do common, overseen things EXTREMELY well.
I have been asked more times than I can count how we “made it.” I’m always amused by that because I feel so far from making it. Every day you have a small business is a work in progress. And sure, we’ve seen some great success (cue in Borat voice 😜), but we’ve also seen failure. We’ve seen amazing days and we’ve seen horrendous days.
BUT through it all, we learned to do these 5 common things uncommonly well- and THESE things are what I attribute to the growth we’ve seen in the last four years.
Everyone already knows how to do them, but most businesses don’t take the time to.
We put these 🖐️ things into practice daily and I can promise you if you become uncommonly good at them, you’ll see some big wins too 🙂
1. SAY THANK YOU. Yep, sounds almost too simple right? consistency in gratitude is a game changer. If a customer leaves you a review or posts on a community page-They took the time out of their busy day to do that. THANK THEM. Personally reply to that person and thank them for their time. I can tell you with 100% certainty that person will feel it was worth their time and will do it again and again for you. It’s a major tool we used to grow our business and create loyal customers. We hand write thank you notes to our customers. We personally reply to every review. We personally thank each customer when they leave a tip. Thank you’s go a LONG way in creating a sense of kinship between you and your customer. All these things make your customers feel important because they are! Without them, you have no business so invest your time where they’re investing theirs.
2. PICK UP THE PHONE. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve answered our work phone and had a customer say “thank you for actually answering my call!” Or if I miss a call, I’ve quickly returned it and they’ll say “WOW, thanks for actually returning my call!” If you want to be a stand out business just Answer. Reply. Respond. Call them back. Text them back. Email them back. And do it as efficiently as possible. That person may have called three other businesses looking for the product or service you offer but YOU will be the one that stands out by taking the time to personally communicate with that potential customer. It gives you a leg up on your competition before you seal the deal.
1. ENGAGE on social media. Engage in neighborhood groups. Engage on ads you run. If you post something on your Facebook or Instagram page and someone comments- like their comment and respond back. It gives your faceless business a personality. It makes your business a real person rather than a thing. So many businesses expect engagement but do not take the time to actually engage!
4. DON’T SELL. EDUCATE. Learn how to educate your customer about your product or service. Teach them WHY what you’re selling is needed but don’t sell. If you become uncommonly good at educating, your customers will naturally come to you. It is a tool that has worked time and time again for us.
5. OWN YOUR SH*T. This is the easiest hardest skill to learn because our egos often get the best of us- BUT learn how to take accountability when you mess up (which all of us will- you’re not perfect and that’s a good thing), and right your wrongs. If something goes wrong at a job or a product you sell is defective- whatever the case may be…take ownership of it and make it right. It goes incredibly far with your customers and makes your business an inevitable game changer for whatever industry you’re in.
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